Perspectives: McCartney: What lead to 'Too Many People' Pt 1

 

Perspectives: McCartney: What lead to “Too Many People”

Article by Matthew Anthony Allair

Those Long and Winding Roads

    There’s an analogy I have seen with old spring wound movie camera’s – as the camera winds down, the image speeds up. The output of the Beatles did seem to intensify within the last two years before their official break-up. For starters, there was the label Apple Records and its enterprises, the idea of the label did create opportunities and some fine records were released from its very inception. Paul produced Mary Hopkin’s first single, “Those Were The Days” in late 68 and her first album, Postcard in 1969. Badfinger was signed to the label, and several key figures produced their singles or albums. Paul produced “Come and Get It”, with Mal Evans producing tracks on Magic Christian Music, Geoff Emerick producing tracks for No Dice, and George Harrison producing tracks for Straight Up. Peter Asher, of Peter & Gordon, were friends of Paul’s, and he brought James Taylor who signed with Apple in 68 and released his classic first album. Billy Preston and Jackie Lomax worked with George. Even Yoko Ono brought in the Modern Jazz Quartet for a few albums, but the idea of Apple was burning through their profits. There were bound to be problems.

    What is one of the most unfortunate things about The Beatles break-up, was the very narratives that were set up, and opinions that were set and formed that people still cling to this day. Essentially, people were forced to ‘choose sides’; it wasn’t enough to just accept all of members and what they would offer in the Post Beatles years. Lines were drawn, and people convinced themselves as to ‘who was brilliant’ in the band. The truth was, they were all brilliant in different ways. But the band were all not business savvy enough, and it showed with some of the decisions made with the Apple enterprise. It didn’t help that figures like Jann Wenner would capitalize on the issues. Near the end of 68, prior to the release of the controversial Two Virgins, John Lennon granted Rolling Stone to print one of the nude photos of the cover. The magazine was in trouble and the scoop helped their circulation. We will get back to that in a moment.

    Through 1969 and 1970, there were bad actors on all sides, whom saw opportunities with The Beatles in business, and in the music press, and it’s tragic to see the number of agitators who were whispering into each ear of the Lads from Liverpool,  If you have seen in chronological order the Get Back sessions from the start of Jan until the end of that month, based on Peter Jackson’s eight hour documentary, you saw tensions, boredom, but you saw a willingness to iron things out after George quit the band for a couple of days.

    Even at the start of 69, Paul knew The Beatles were in trouble, you could see it on his face in the Get Back documentary - at the moment George left. 

“This was a very difficult period. John was with Yoko full time, and our relationship started to crumble: John and I were going through a very tense period. The breakup of The Beatles was looming and I was very nervy. Personally it was a very difficult period for me, I think the drugs, the stress, the tiredness, and everything started to take its toll. I somehow managed to miss a lot of the bad effects of all that, but looking back on the period, I think I was having troubles.”

    Paul was also guilty of having blind spots with his zeal to keep the band going, and keep creating for the band, that much is fair to say. But two figures did more sew divide them near the end, Allen Klein and Jann Wenner, their toxic actions pretty much guaranteed the key players would never work together again.

The False Prophet (Profit) Manager

    As documented in Get Back on the 27^th of January, John and Yoko met Allen Klein at the Dorchester Hotel. Allen’s knowledge of the band - and John’s work prior 1968 - in particular impressed Lennon, plus John’s drug recovery left him susceptible to flattery at that moment. Yoko liked Allen because he promised to get her an expedition of her work, which he followed through with two years later. Klein was also someone who didn’t appear dismissive of Yoko’s work. Even if the others wouldn’t agree to have Klein manage The Beatles, he made up his mind, and within a short space of time, Lennon wrote to Sir Joe Lockwood at EMI, Clive Epstein at NEMS, Dick James at Northern Songs, and Harry Pinkster at Bryce Hamner and requested their full cooperation with Klein. 

    A band meeting shortly followed there to state the case for Klein. George and Ringo were convinced to have Klein manage the band. But Paul wasn’t convinced. Paul’s brother-in-law Eastman had heard about the case pending against Klein with American tax authorities and was weary. Paradoxical thinking won the day, a typical aspect of most musicians, someone bad must be good. When George would write about some of these frustrations with the band and even Paul, he also saw things in an interesting way.

    In His 1980 Book, I Me Mine, When George Harrison was talking about the situation with Apple, he was more philosophical about it all. “Wah Wah” was about the tensions in the band. But “Run Of The Mill” even more so. 

“’Trouble at t’mill’; it was when Apple was getting crazy – Ringo wanted it blue, John wanted it white, Paul wanted it green, and I wanted it orange. Paul was falling out with all of us and going around Apple offices saying “You’re no good’—everybody was just incompetent (the Spanish Inquisition sketch). It was that period – the problems of partnerships.”

    The story of Allen Klein is revealing, in a nutshell, Pop star Bobby Darin first met Allen in 1962, Klein was an accountant who started in the late 1950s and was good at looking into audits and finding unpaid royalties. Darin was impressed and gave Klein his business, then Klein negotiated a new deal for Darin with the Capitol contract, but he inserted some interesting clauses, Klein wanted Capitol to sell the Trinity Music Publishing Company to Darin for a substantial sum, Thar publishing had seven hundred songs in it’s catalog, and Darin had only seventy at Trinity, but Capitol was so desperate to get Darin, they agreed. Bobby was a multi-millionaire within a year. Then Klein went after Sam Cooke, securing a nearly million-dollar deal with RCA, prior to Cookes murder. Most record labels were ripping off their artists, so it was easy for Klein to snoop around and extract better deals. Klein got deals for The Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits, as well as his fantastic deal with Decca for the Rolling Stones. His company The Allen and Betty Klein Company (ABKCO) would be a powerhouse for a spell, but it all came with a tradeoff, Klein understood the power of publishing companies and would leverage for that power. 

    Klein was a scrapper, He was born in 1931 in Newark, New Jersey, his mother died of cancer before he was two years old, and his father, a Kosher butcher was forced to place Klein and his sisters in a Jewish orphanage. As he grew older, he had to fend for himself, Klein had to work hard to become an accountant and attended classes at Upsala College in the evenings. John Lennon identified with Klein’s working-class background very quickly. John felt that the Eastman’s upper crust background was suspect, John also accused the Eastman’s of being condescending to him. The only problem was that John misread the situation, some would argue, John assumed Klein shared the same goals as their deceased manager Brian Epstein.

    Rumors circulated that Lennon was consulting Klein back to Mick Jagger, who handed a note via his assistant Peter Swales that was sent to Paul issuing a warning about Klein, Paul asked Mick to come by the Apple offices for a meeting with the band. When asked how Klein was, Mick replied “Well, he’s all right if you like that kind of thing.” But Paul sensed that Mick was intimidated about speaking, Klein would soon have the copyrights to the Stones Hot Rocks compilations.

    On February 3^rd Klein was appointed to conduct an audit on the Beatles finances, as much as Paul vetoed by the others a board meeting as far as Klein becoming manager, he did get one concession, the Eastman’s would be appointed general counsel to The Beatles so there could be some general check on Klein, John and Lee Eastman became the bands lawyers the following day, Fed 4^th. The band would start work on what would become Abbey Road by February 22^nd.

    For two months Klein examined everything, while the Apple staff waited nervously, by March 21^st Klein became Apple’s business manager. Anyone who was considered a threat to Klein was soon let go, long-term loyalist Alistair Taylor, as well as Apple records executive Ron Kass were fired, Neil Aspinall was nearly fired, but the band objected, so he was spared, so was Derek Taylor also kept, as he was not a threat. Countless staffers who were considered hangers-on were let go.

    The below comment by Allen Klein from a Playboy interview 1971, speaks volumes about him. 

“The Music business is about 99 per cent no-talent losers who can’t stand a winner in their midst. I’m a winner, and if they want to sour grape my success by calling me names, let them. I don’t give a shit.”

    In spite of the tensions with Apple, the band pressed forward with sessions for Abbey Road. Early on, by April 14^th, 69, John brought to Paul’s home “The Ballad Of John and Yoko” to finish up, because Ringo and George were away, John and Paul went to the studio    and recorded it as a duo, this may have helped make the rest of the sessions for the album so a little smoother as it was a bonding moment for Paul and John. As the sessions evolved, Paul would write several songs, that in retrospect, seemed like veiled comments that the band were over, “You Never Give Me Your Money, Carry That Weight” and “The End”. The fact that George was now considered on par to have “Something” and “Here Comes The Sun” be the singles was a kind of generous act by Paul and John, as well as Ringo’s “Octopuses’ Garden” being released as a single. The last track recorded by the full band on August 20^th was John’s “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”.

    In the midst of the sessions the Eastman’s were fired as the band Lawyers as Klein took more control, things built to a head on May 9^th when the band was booked for a session at Olympia studios with Glyn Johns, when Paul was presented with a ultimatum by the band, Klein told them he needed to have his three year contract signed before he wanted to head back to New York and have Klein present it to the board of his corporation. Klein insisted on 20 percent, Paul argued: “He’ll take 15 percent, we’re the biggest act in the world, he’ll take 15 percent”. The band ganged up on Paul over the percentage, bullied him and outvoted him anyway. Klein claimed ‘I Can’t do it for any less, my board won’t allow it’, Of course, there was no board as Klein and Peter Howard were the board members. But John, George and Ringo believed him.

    Paul countered that it was already the weekend, and no business would get done until Monday, The rest of the band accused Paul of “Stalling”, while Paul argued his lawyer could be present on Monday, the band couldn’t do anything else, so they all stormed off leaving Paul alone for the session. Paul vented to musician Steve Miller on the day, and they recorded as a duo, “My Dark Hour”, which Miller would release later as single under a alias. Paul never did sign that contract. While the radio DJ "Paul is Dead" hoax and rumor had circulated by October of 1969, as much as it was false, what is true is that a proverbial funeral procession was on the loom for The Beatles that no one saw.

    I have argued that Allen Klein was a narcissist, now narcissism isn’t a mental illness but more a personality type, there is a range to the traits, some people are malignant, grandiose, covert, or victimized, the common trait is a lack of empathy, although they may be extremely good at feigning empathy when it benefits them. They often believe they are superior to others, critical of others they look down on, expect special favors and expect others to do what they want without question. Take advantage of others to get what they want, behave arrogantly, and have the inability to recognize the needs or feelings of others. Most narcissists have suffered some extreme traumas in childhood that shape their personality. Therein lies the enigma, not everyone who suffered trauma becomes narcissistic. John did have empathy, so did Paul, that is the difference. However fiercely intelligent John was, he was also capable of being naïve. Many smart people are often duped by narcissists.

    Paul’s actions and arguments probably planted the seed that Klein would view Paul as an enemy. The way that narcissists work is to bully people into their way of thinking, or to pit associates against one another for the sake of winning. Klein probably even thought he could brow beat Paul into doing what he wished, but it never happened, Paul seemed to intuitively have a sense of the big picture over how much control Klein should have. 

Linda recalled:

“It was weird times. Allen Klein was stirring it up something awful. Between Allen Klien in one ear and Yoko* in the other ear, they had John so spinning about Paul it was really quite heartbreaking. So Stupid. It reminded me of the Eisenstein movie Ivan The Terrible: they were all whispering. It was like that with John; he was getting so bitter about Paul, and all Paul was saying was that he didn’t want to sign a big management contract with Allan Klein. Nothing to do with anything else.”

    Upon the completion of the Abbey Road sessions, the Apple offices had settled into a different climate, John and Yoko took over Ron Kass’s office, even with other appointed staffers, Klein has final say over every detail, even Paul was quoted with saying to Klein, “If you are screwing us, I don’t see how.” The deal that Allen Klein made included a stipulation that a compilation had to be released per year for Capitol. That would lead towards the American Hey Jude compilation in February 1970. The Red and Blue sets in 73, the Rock N Roll set in 76, and Love Songs in 1977 for Capitol, and so on. In fairness to Klein, George Harrison’s beloved Victorian estate Friar’s Park never would have been sold to George had it been for him. Also, the distribution deal that lead to the release of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo, a film John and Yoko advocated for, would have never seen a global release, due to Klein’s company.

    What was about to happen shouldn’t have been a surprise in hindsight to anyone. When John and Yoko was invited to guest at the Toronto Rock N Roll Revival, and around some point on that September 13^th date. John informed Clapton and Klaus Voormann that he was leaving The Beatles, that album would be released December of 1969. Allen Klein did negotiate a new deal with EMI / Capitol where they agreed to raise the royalty to 25 percent of retail to be paid directly from EMI to Apple. An unprecedented amount. Yet on September 20^th, 1969 after the new contract had been signed while the band mates speculated about what do to next. John was candid with Paul: “Well, I wasn’t going to tell you till after we signed the Capitol contract. Klein asked me to not tell you. But, seeing that you asked me, I’m leaving the group.” Everyone blanched over John’s revelation, but John seemed excited, like his prior divorce with Cynthia, the rest of the band signed the deal in a daze.

    Ringo had left for a few days during the white album sessions but was coaxed back. George left for a spell at the start of 69, and was talked back, but when John announced he was leaving, it felt final. Paul and Linda retreated for three weeks to his small farm in Scotland to regroup after news it. Paul acknowledged:

“I was through a bad period. I exhibited all the classic symptoms of the unemployed, the redundant man. First, you don’t shave, and it’s not to grow a groovy beard, it’s because you cannot be fucking bothered. Anger, deep, deep anger sets in… Mornings weren’t for getting up. I might get up and stay on the bed a bit and not know where to go, and get back into bed. Then if I did get up, I’d have a drink. Straight out of bed. I’ve never done that,…I felt I’d outlived my usefulness….But the minute I wasn’t with the Beatles anymore it became very difficult.”

Paul admits he needed a month or so to think things over; to plant trees, he became a hermit. He was bound to a contract he didn’t want to be in. Prior to Klein, the band signed a contract in July 1967 at the forming of Apple that bound each of them financially for ten years. Any solo projects would be added into a till. For example; John’s Plastic Ono Band profits would be shared equally between the four of them. The share and share alike philosophy that reflected the early days of Apple records would soon become a two-edged sword. Paul would soon realize that Klein could benefit from Paul’s sales when that man had nothing to do with the work, he didn’t want to see ABKCO label on every McCartney solo release. This trap has similarities, for example, to the early contracts with Billy Joel when he and signed worked with Artie Ripp, although Ripp would have nothing with Joel’s work after 1971, his company Family Productions, took a percentage of every future Joel album sale for a decade. This was all too common in the music business, as Paul was about to get more of the dental experience. Paul pretty much excluded himself from The Apple offices and EMI. 

Paul’s removal from the business side of the situation may seem childish or controlling by some, but his actions may have been intuitive. When dealing with a narcissist, the best tactic is what they call Grey Rocking, to become invisible, to not share certain details, remove oneself from manipulation, and to also remove oneself from the circle around the narcissist – the enablers. This is often very difficult with a business venture, or a marriage that is falling apart, but can be necessary for one’s mental health.

Paul’s solo venture with Linda’s help would give him solace and purpose, when he would start to record tracks for what would become McCartney (1970), while he separated himself from the rest of the band and Apple records, it would soon get worse. In truth, Linda’s support is probably what saved Paul from becoming a drug addict or committing suicide. In the same way Yoko probably saved John from becoming a drug causality, but it was a painful growing up for all of them. Even the in midst of 1969, John was not oblivious as to how others were trying to manipulate him. Plenty of bad actors were part of the gossip mill, as Paul explained:

“When John and I used to meet during this period, he’d say ‘Do they try and set you against me like they try and set me against you?’ And I’d say ‘Yes, often, People’ll say, “Oh, did you hear that Lennon threw up before he went on stage in Taranto?’” They’d always tell me the juicy things, in case I wanted to go ‘Did he? What a bastard! Well, serves him right, ha, ha,ha.’

“The two of them were on Heroin, and this was a fairly big shocker for us because we were far-out boys but we kind of understood that we’d never get quite that far out. I don’t think people understood what was happening but there was still a lot of affection still.”

Generally, addicts won’t make good decisions. While John and Yoko used in 69, they were still using to a degree in 1970, and in-between rehab visits, would still use until John stopped in 1975. John admitted he was stoned for most of the Get Back project, which you can see, he didn’t seem to care. The added influence of Klein as the building confusion with the enterprise didn’t help. Shortly, Paul was trapped. 

* In fairness to Linda's remarks, Yoko was merely being defensive of her husband, in the same way that Linda was defending her husband. Actually, Linda would advocate for Yoko as she recognized the misogyny they both dealt with. 

Continued on part two...